Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) COO Sells $16,556.52 in Stock

Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) COO Anthony Ray Kappus sold 1,964 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.43, for a total transaction of $16,556.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,814.02. This trade represents a 21.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Anthony Ray Kappus also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Saturday, July 18th, Anthony Ray Kappus sold 558 shares of Upwork stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total transaction of $5,055.48.

Upwork Trading Down 0.6%

Upwork stock opened at $8.61 on Friday. Upwork Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.44 and a 1-year high of $22.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.99.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Upwork had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The firm had revenue of $191.66 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Upwork has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UPWK. Citigroup cut their price objective on Upwork from $17.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Upwork from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Upwork from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Upwork currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.05.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPWK. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Upwork by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 32,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Straightline Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Straightline Group LLC now owns 39,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 4.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 24,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. Maridea Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Upwork by 11.0% in the first quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Upwork by 594.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Upwork Company Profile

Upwork Inc operates a leading online talent marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals worldwide. Through its digital platform, the company enables clients across industries—including technology, marketing, creative services and customer support—to source, hire and manage freelance talent on demand. Key features of the Upwork platform include streamlined job posting, proposal evaluation, time-tracking tools, invoicing and secure payment processing, all designed to simplify collaboration between clients and remote workers.

The company traces its roots to the merger of two pioneering freelance marketplaces, Elance (founded in 1998) and oDesk (founded in 2003), which combined in 2015 to form a unified entity.